The present invention related to guidance systems, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for providing autonomous precision guidance of airborne weapons.
Although many of the weapons utilized during the Desert Storm conflict were remarkably effective, this exercise demonstrated the limited usefulness of the current weapon inventory in adverse weather conditions. Because of the integral relationship between sensors (for targeting) and weapons, it's logical to look at a radar sensor to help resolve the adverse weather problem. Radar SAR (synthetic array radar) targeting has been employed for many years, but never with the consistently precise accuracies demonstrated by TV, FLIR and laser guided weapons in Desert Storm. High resolution radar missile seekers have been in development for several years; however, these concepts still represent much more technical risk and cost than the Air Force can bear for a near-term all-weather, precision guided munition.
Therefore it is an objective of the present invention to provide an autonomous precision weapon guidance system and method for use in guiding of airborne weapons, and the like.